John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I shall use up the two minutes. The first thing that crossed my mind when I thought about this morning's meeting was that insults would be hurled back and forth. What would this debate be like if politics was removed for a while? The Minister did not help the situation a few weeks ago by saying, or he was quoted as saying, that transport was doddle. Perhaps he was misquoted but I am not sure.

There was a glimmer of hope in his statement today in terms of policy and licensing. I can see his point that he cannot solve the dispute with a chequebook because other sectors would expect the same. However, the dispute needs to be solved. What can he do? In order for the management and unions to settle the dispute they need to know how policy will influence a sustainable bus transport system. They need to know the views held by the Minister and the Government on transport policy and when subventions will return to the level experienced in better economic times because otherwise they are being hung out to dry. Everyone agrees that the country cannot survive without a public bus service. I would not ask him to resolve the dispute with a chequebook. He called for the use of imagination to resolve it.

I would ask the Minister to also have imagination in the sense of what guarantees he might give to Bus Éireann for policy changes down the line that would make it sustainable.